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Patient Navigation for Cancer Screening and Treatment

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Cancer Health Disparities

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Abstract

Differences in key social determinants of health between racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, or geographic groups result in differential barriers to care, subsequent access to and utilization of timely, high-quality cancer care, and cancer outcomes. Patient navigation (PN) is a patient-centered, healthcare service delivery intervention that aims to eliminate barriers to cancer care, thereby improving outcomes and decreasing disparities in health. PN has a rich and evidence-based track record as a strategy to help eliminate cancer disparities among racial and ethnic minorities; patients who are low-income, underinsured, or treated at safety-net hospitals; and patients residing in the rural USA. Over time, PN programs have increased their scope to target disparities across a wide variety of types of cancers, in diverse settings, and across the cancer care continuum. In this chapter we (1) describe core principles of PN, PN services, and the rationale for PN as an appealing strategy to eliminate disparities in cancer care and outcomes; (2) evaluate the efficacy of PN at reducing racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in outcomes across the cancer care continuum; and (3) discuss practical considerations to implementing effective PN programs aimed at reducing disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes. Although practical considerations abound for the continued dissemination and implementation of PN programs, PN has, and will continue to play, a critically important role in our attempts to eradicate disparities in access to cancer care and cancer outcomes for underrepresented and medically vulnerable populations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Evan M. Graboyes

  2. Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Evan M. Graboyes

  3. Department of Population Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Elizabeth A. Calhoun

Authors
  1. Evan M. Graboyes
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  2. Elizabeth A. Calhoun
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Evan M. Graboyes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, California, CA, USA

    Chanita Hughes Halbert, PhD

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Graboyes, E.M., Calhoun, E.A. (2023). Patient Navigation for Cancer Screening and Treatment. In: Hughes Halbert, PhD, C. (eds) Cancer Health Disparities. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37638-2_5

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